Born in Dessau, Germany in 1900, Kurt Weill's first opera, The Protagonist was performed in April of 1926. By this time he had already become an accomplished composer, but had decided to devote his future work to musical theatre. Working with like-minded contemporary, Bertolt Brecht, the two had their first veritable hit in 1927 with Mahoganny-Songspiel and the two became enormously popular throughout Europe.

With the rise of Nazi Germany in 1933 Weill fled his homeland, as Nazis burned his music and attacked his publishing house. After a brief stay in Paris, Weill eventually found himself in New York and became one of Broadway's most popular composers. But, while hit shows such as The Threepenny Opera (home to Mack the Knife) and Lady in the Dark (a collaboration with Ira Gerswhin) propelled Weill into the spotlight of songwriting, he also continued to write music intended to address the real world, including his work for Lost in the Stars, based upon Alon Paton's exploration of South African racial conflict, 'Cry the Beloved Country'.

Weill passed away from heart failure in 1950, shortly after beginning work with Maxwell Anderson on a musical adaptaion of Huckleberry Finn. The two had previously collaborated on Lost in the Stars in 1949.

Kurt Weill Sheet Music:
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